Skeletons in a Closet
by Pfeenix
Summary: Phoenix Moniker is your average, everyday muggleborn witch, right? Wrong! Weasley twinsOC pairings. Rating is precautionary, may be changed by end of series based on content PLEASE REVIEW: future of story depends on it!
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** This is a story I had begun writing for another site. Unfortunatley, I had not been getting the type of feed back I had bee looking for. Actually, for the most part I wasn't getting any feed back at all, so I decided to open up his story to a new audience. This is good news for those of you, if any, that like this story, because i already have the first 5 chapters written (and part of 6 as well.)

I'm a firm believer in the idea that any and all advice/criticism is good, therefore I look forward to hearing from you. I do hope you enjoy it. Happy reading!

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"Why don't you just ask her?" George asked, as he took a seat on the floor next to Fred, staring at the fire, wondering what was taking his twin so long to ask one girl to the Yule Ball. Only one week left, and he still hadn't asked her. Not that he, himself, had asked anyone yet, but at least he had a good reason... 

Fred took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, as if it were the thought he was trying to ponder. Finally, he released it in a very stress ridden sigh. "I can't," he stated simply.

George nearly choked on his next words. "W-what?! Since when do _you_ have trouble trying to ask a girl out? You're _Fred Weasley_!"

"I know who I am, thanks," Fred retorted with a semi-mock offended air. There was a pause while two identical expressions of slight annoyance gazed into the dancing flames. After a few minutes, George watched Fred survey the room out of the corner of his eye. By the look on Fred's face, he could tell the room was empty, well, except for them. Fred let loose another sigh. "I don't know." George finally broke his gaze to look back at his brother, who seemed to be struggling to find the words he wanted to say - another first. "It's just," Fred continued. "There's something so..._sad_... about her."

George seemed taken aback by this. "wait a sec...we are talking about the same girl, right?" He paused for a second, staring at Fred intently. "Nikki Moniker?...'bout yea-tall[he held his hand above his head, not quite reaching the right height, but almost...walks around school with a smile permanently splattered across her face?" Fred gave a slight smile to let George know that they were, in fact talking about the same person.

Bewildered, George asked the question that was sitting at the tip of his tongue: "What makes you say, 'something sad'?"

Fred appeared to think about that for a moment. Staring into the fire, Fred formed a question of his own. He glanced at George. "Have you ever watched her when she was in here on her own?" George shook his head slightly, wonder where Fred was going with this... "You should try it sometime...you'd be surprised what expressions appear on peoples faces when they think no one is looking...well, g'night George."

George watched as he ascended the stairs to the boy's dormitory. Slowly, he turned back to watch the engrossing flames...

His thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of feet thumping down stairs. George shifted slightly to see who it was, and whether or not he wanted to talk...

As Nikki came into view, George was reminded of Fred's words and decided to see exactly what he meant by them. So, he stayed quiet and watched... Nikki, it seemed was relishing in the fact that no one was in the room(as far as she knew) to disturb her..._studying for the NEWTs isn't easy_, George sympathized. _Especially with a group of really loud students like Gryffindor_. If he didn't know any better, George would have wondered, like all the other students, why she never just went to the library to study. Ahh...the perks of having been on the Quidditch team all those years... Anyway, although he didn't know exactly why, George did know that she hated libraries, in general. Had a bad experience as a child...or something...

And then it happened. As he watched the girl he thought he knew, she changed right before his very eyes. Unable to contain herself in the seclusion of the [almost empty room, she began to cry. Never, ever had George thought he'd see Phoenix Moniker cry.

Even weirder, was how her crying made him feel inside. While he had always counted Nikki among one of his 'good friends', and therefore would do anything for her, George could tell this was something more than what a friend should feel. George wanted to do dome serious bodily harm to whoever made her cry. Whoever it was had hurt her, and bad. And he, George, wanted revenge.

But what was this feeling? It didn't take long for him to narrow it down to one of two things: a) he liked her; or b) he subconsciously thought of her like a sister.

_Well_, George thought, _I can't like, because Fred does, and I wouldn't do that to my own twin. So it must be that I think of her like a sister...yeah! that's gotta be it! If someone hurt Ginny like this I'd wanna tear them limb-from-limb, too. Yeah...that makes sense..._

George watched for another hour, or so, while she wallowed in her silent misery. While he sat there, all his strength was utilized in keeping himself firmly rooted to his spot. All he wanted to do was run to her...to hold her...to tell her that no one could harm her while she was here with him to protect her...he wanted to kiss her---in a totally brotherly sort-of-way, of course!...

Finally, she gathered all of her things and brought them up to her dorm. Once he heard her door click shut, he reluctantly climbed the stairs up to his own bed...

He just lay there, until the dawn split the sky in to a shower of color, replaying the entire scene, and his feelings toward it in his head.

But no matter how many times he thought it over in his head that night, George couldn't seem to convince himself that he thought of Nikki like a sister...

An alarm went off somewhere in the dorm. One of the other guys turned off, but not before it woke up Fred. He sat up glanced around he room, and noticed that George wasn't asleep. He picked up the closest thing to him - his pillow- and threw it at his brother, who seemed to be in a sort of daze.

"w-wha-" George started to sputter out.

"mornin'" Fred said.

"oh...mornin'"

"so...what did ya do after I went to bed last night?"

"oh, uh, nuthing, really"

George decided it probably wasn't best to tell Fred, not until he was certain how he felt, at least...


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not now, nor have I ever, own any of the Harry Potter characters. They are the sole property of Ms. JK Rowling. I do, however, own any and all original characters found throughout this entire story

Happy Reading!

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You woke up with a start in a cold sweat. You looked around the room, and then at the window. It was still dark and everyone was still asleep. It couldn't have been any later than 3am. You put your face in your hands and let out a deep, rattling sigh. 

_Another nightmare_, you thought to yourself. _Same one as last night, and the night before that._ All these dreams seemed to do was bring back a rush of unwelcome memories and emotions. With another sigh, you threw the covers off you and grabbed your robe. You knew the drill, you wouldn't be able to go back to sleep right now. You never could after that dream. You grabbed some of your schoolbooks and exited your dormitory, careful not to wake anyone.

As you slowly crept down the stairs you began to hear voices. Although you couldn't hear what they were saying, their voices were unmistakable. The twins. As you silently continued down the stairs, you could begin to decipher what they were saying, but you only caught the tail end of the conversation: Fred saying goodnight. Then you heard someone going up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. You waited until you heard the door close. You weren't entirely sure, but you thought you only heard one set of footsteps. You shrugged, thinking you were probably just mistaken. To be sure, you decided to make you footsteps heavier and louder. _If one of them were still down there, you thought, then they'd look to see who'd be up at this time._ When you got into the common room you looked around. You didn't see anyone. _Good. No awkward questions._

You sat down at one of the table and pulled out your History of Magic book, thinking it would make you tired again and you'd be able to get back to sleep soon. You started to read, but you just couldn't concentrate. All you kept thinking about was the dream you'd just had. _It's not fair!_ You screamed in your head. _I hate how he still has this much control over me! I haven't even seen him in seven years, for Christ's sake!_

Images from you dream flashed through your head again. You could feel the tears welling up in your eyes. Quickly, you shuffled through your things looking for something - anything - to take your mind off the horrors of your past. As you picked up your Transfiguration book, something fell onto the table. It was a picture. Two girls at a party, smiling feebly at whoever was taking the picture. The girls had a permanent sadness about them. Your eyes focused in on the younger of the two. Your sister. You hadn't seen her for seven years either. With that thought, you could no longer contain yourself: your tears flowed freely. _Only a few more months_, you thought. _A few more months and then we'd be able to see each other again._

You remembered that day clearly in your head. The day she left

i "_Don't worry, Nikki, this isn't 'good-bye'. This…this is just some thing I have to do…" she said as she took some money out of your brother's wallet._

"_Lemme come with you Phi…you can't leave me here all by myself!" You screamed through your tears. _

_She let out a sigh of frustration. "For the last time, your not gonna be by yourself…besides, **they** like you better anyway." She spit that last part venomously. She picked up your bags and headed towards the door. When she got there she paused for a second, dropped her bags, ran back to the living room, and pulled you into one of her infamous bear hugs. "I promise, I'll come back and get you as soon as I find them. I'm gonna miss you soooo much!…I love you Nikki." _

"_I love you, too, Phi!"_

And that was the last time you ever saw or spoke to your sister. How empty that final promise of yours seemed, now that you looked back. Seven years, and still nothing. The closest you ever came to knowing the truth was a convicted felon on the run who happened to have the same last name. Of course, you highly doubted you were related. You were, after all, only a muggle born, and he, of course, was a pure blood.

With that thought in mind, you gathered your things and went off to bed.

You woke up the next morning refreshed and relaxed, the events of last night pushed to the back of your head. You got out of bed, and prepared yourself for a morning full of classes. Once you were finished, you headed down to the great hall for breakfast. You spotted Angelina Johnson, fellow Quidditch player, and one of your only true friends, at the Gryffindor table. You grabbed a seat next to her and began to pile your plate with food. "Morning, Angie!"

"Morning, Nikki. Happy Birthday!…hungry much?" she asked, turning to you and eyeing your food.

"Thanks! And, uh, yeah…surprisingly." You glanced around the room. For some reason, your eyes were drawn to the table where the delegates from Beauxbatons Academy, as Dumbledore put it, were seated. More precisely, they were drawn to a particular girl. She had blonde hair and vibrant green eyes. You couldn't put your finger on it, but you'd seen her somewhere before. Your mind flashed to the picture you'd found last night. But, there was no- your attention was diverted by a pair of blue eyes. Fred Weasley had sat across from Angelina, directly in you line of vision, with a determined look on his face. He glanced at you for a split second, and his determination seemed to falter slightly, but not enough. He turned back to Angelina.

"So, Angelina,(she looked at him) you going to this Yule Ball thing? (She nodded her head) Would you like someone devilishly handsome to go with ya? (Sure, she said) Meet you in the Common Room at 7? (Again, she said sure) Great," he exclaimed. With that, he got up and met his twin further down the table. Your gaze followed him down the table. When he sat down your eyes met his brother's. "Happy Birthday!" mouthed George. "Thanks," you mouthed back. You turned back to Angelina, who was smiling at you with a knowing glance. "What?" you asked, and went back to eating.

That morning was both a blessing and a disaster. Double potions with Snape, who made it his business to make those of Gryffindor House's lives miserable. Fred and George, in honour of your birthday, decided to test out some of their new inventions during that class. Let's just say that Snape wasn't too happy when their Rapid Rooster knocked over a jar of Bulbadox powder, which broke and spilt all over Snape's hands. He dismissed the class early, as boils began to sprout all over his hands, but not before giving all of the Gryiffindors detention for later that night._Great_, you thought as you gathered your books together. _Happy Birthday to me…_

You had a free period after double potions normally, so you had the rest of the morning to do absolutely nothing. You went up to your dormitory and disposed of your books, took a pack of muggle cards out of your trunk. You don't know why, but that was the one thing from the muggle world you could not live without. You went down to the common room and sat at an empty table closest the fire. You took the card out of the box and started shuffling as you surveyed the room. You noticed the twins watching you with curious expressions on their faces. _Perfect_, you thought.

"What?" you asked with the most innocent smile you could muster.

"What're you playing with those for? It's not like they do anything exciting." Fred asked.

"True, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun with them."

"Oh yeah?" said George, pulling up a chair.

"Then prove it." Fred challenged, as he did the same.

_Oooohhh…yay!_ you thought as your smile turned into a smirk. _Time to mess with their heads_. "Ok," you said. "Pay close attention, cuz I'm only saying this once. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards. Once you get rid of all your cards, you get to make up a rule. You cannot talk about the rules." Your smirk grew even wider when you saw their looks of confusion as you dealt the five cards each. As you placed the rest of the deck in the middle of you three, you saw George looking at his cards. You picked the top card of the middle pile and slammed on the table in front of him say, "Looking at cards!" Startled, George slowly lowered his cards and looked at you with a look of utter confusion. You smiled, flipped over the next card in the deck and said, "Game on!"

"Wow," began Fred. "Would have thought that muggles could be so mean?"

"It's not the muggles' fault you can't pay attention, now is it, Fred?" you retorted. You had been playing since you got dismissed early from Snape's class and now it was time for lunch, so you were putting the cards back in their box. To make a long story short you kicked their ass, which wasn't really surprising considering the rules of the game. However, by the time you guys were finished George was doing rather well, winning a couple of hands for himself. "I guess we know who the smart twin is, then," you said with a pointed look at George. At this, George puffed out his chest and plastered a cocky grin across his face. Fred slapped him upside the had as you tried to stifle your laugher.

"Something funny?" Fred asked, in a challenging sort of way.

"Not at all," you replied, barely breathing. "I think I'm just going to run these cards up stairs and then we'll head down to the Great Hall for lunch, yeah?" With out waiting for a reply you sprinted up he stairs to the girls dormitory. Once you reached the top, you couldn't hold your laughter in any longer.

When you finally recovered from your laughing fit, went into your room to return your cards to your trunk. When you entered, you saw Angelina on her bed, looking at you over her Herbology book. "What was that all about?" she demanded.

"What was what all about?" you asked, feigning innocence.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't try to pay dumb!" she said, tossing her book aside, standing up, and stretching.

"Ooohhhhhh….that" you said as if realization just hit you. "It was nothing." Angelina rolled her eyes. "So, the twins and I were going to go down to the Great Hall to get lunch, wanna come?"

Her eyes brightened at the prospect. "Sure! Just give me a sec." she said running into the bathroom. You could tell she was really happy to be going to the Yule Ball with Fred. Angelina was never one to go all 'girly', for want of a better term, when it come to guys, but you could always tell she liked him. It was one of the reasons you never admitted to liking him, too. Of course, you also liked George, but you still didn't know which Weasley twin you liked the best, in that sense. Your thoughts were interrupted when Angelina came out of the bathroom. "How do I look?"

"Gorgeous, now let's go!" you said as you grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you," Angelina said as you two linked arms at the top of the stairs. "What was with you and George this morning?"

"What do you mean?"

Angelina sighed. "I mean," she began. "I saw you two flirting at breakfast this morning, right after Fred asked me to the ball."

"We weren't flirting!" you screeched defensively. "He was merely sending me some pleasant birthday wishes."

"He was flirting with you," she said dismissively as you reached the bottom of the stairs. "But anyway,-"

"Who's flirting with who?" Fred asked, popping out of nowhere.

"No one!" you said before anyone else had a chance to say anything. "Let's go get food."

Detention that night was - _interesting_, to say the least. With all the Gryffindor 6th years in his detention that night, Professor Snape had to come up with a way to keep the trouble at a minimum, so he separated you into pairs and assigned you separate parts of the castle to clean - with out magic, of course. He even took care to separate the twins. He made a big mistake, however, when he paired you off with Fred. At times, even with just one half of the dynamic Weasley duo, you could be just as bad as when the twins are together, and when you got landed a detention with your _favourite _[_Wow, there's so much sarcasm dripping off of that I almost slipped in the puddle, _you thought. teacher for practically no reason at all [I mean come on, what's a little prank? Especially one you didn't have a hand in, with the exception of the fact that it was in honour of your birthday!!, this became one of those times… especially since it was your birthday.

Snape led you and Fred to the Entrance Hall. "You two will be cleaning here tonight. And remember: No magic." he said with a sly smirk of satisfaction. "I'll be back in half an hour to check on your progress and make sure there is NO fooling around." And with that he made a sharp turn and stalked off, his robes billowing behind him.

You guys waited until you were sure Snape was out of earshot before you started talking. Fred spoke first. "So…are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

You let out a laugh that was almost reminiscent of a bark. "More than likely not," you said coyly. "But I'm always up for new ideas." Fred laughed slightly at this. Then you said in mock admiration, "So what did you have in mind, O Mischievous One?" A devilish grin spread across Fred's and you couldn't help thinking how sexy it made him look. _How come I never noticed this before_, you thought to yourself. _Ahh, well…. It's not like I could do anything anyway…. Angelina would kill me! _

"Well," Fred began. "I was thinking…"


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **_Here's number 3!!!! The disclaimer found at the begining of the second chapter applies to this and all future chapters. I have noticed a number of people reading the first two chapters, but unfortunately, I have yet to see any reviews. Is my writing that bad, or are people just indifferent to it? Either way, I'd appreciate any advice/comments/criticism you can give me, so I can improve more as a writer. I look forward to hear from whoever does decide to comment on my work. Until then, happy reading! _

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Slowly, you began to fade back into consciousness with a throbbing headache. You weren't ready to open your eyes yet for fear that some light on the other side of your eyelids would just make your head hurt worse. _What happened?_ you thought. You were trying to remember- but nothing came to mind. After a few more minutes of trying futilely to remember, you drifted back off to sleep.

You woke up again some time later. By this time, the pain in your head had subsided. _Thank God! _you thought. You heard a cough and some slight movement to the side of you. You slowly opened up your eyes and turned to the source of the noise. There, asleep in a chair beside you bed, was a rather hott looking ginger.

You adjusted your self into a seated position and glanced around the room. You were in, what appeared to be, some sort of hospital wing in which there were only two people: you, and the man sleeping at your bedside. You couldn't understand it. He looked so familiar, and yet, for the life of you, you couldn't remember who he was. Or why he was sleeping next to your bed, for that matter. You sat there for another few minutes, staring in puzzlement at the unconscious man until you hear a sound coming from your other side.

"It's good to see you're awake," said a semi-recognizable voice. You turned towards the sound only to see a clone of the man sitting beside you. Well…sort of…

Even though you really couldn't recognize either of them, you could tell that they we're, in fact, two separate people. "Yeah, I guess," you replied. He slowly came closer to the bed and sat on the edge. Alarmed, you pushed yourself slightly more towards the head. He noticed.

"Are you alright, Nikki?"

Not wanting to give yourself away, you shook your head and said, "No, no…I'm fine. Really…. Just trying to get comfortable."

"Oh- ok," he said cautiously, with a look of disbelief in his eyes. "Fred- uh- Fred was really worried about you," he said, pointing at his twin sleeping in the chair. "I was too," he added quickly. "Just- uh- Fred kind of blamed himself…you know…for what happened."

"W-why would he blame himself?"

The man in front of you sat there, puzzled for a moment before some sort of realization dawned on him. "Oh, well, you know, h-he let you- um- try that – um, prototype…of ours."

You reached your hand out and gently caressed his arm, "It's ok, I-"

"Yeah, I know," he said looking into your eyes, you faces slowly inching towards each other. "Fred told me. He said you- uh- insisted and- uh-"

Your lips finally closed the gap. For five amazing seconds everything seemed perfect- well, not everything. You couldn't put your finger on it, but something just didn't seem right. So you pulled away. "George, I-" You broke off, part of it from shock, part due to the look on the man-across-from-you's face._George?!_ you thought. _Where the hell did that come from?_ But it must not have been wrong, because e didn't try to correct you.

Just then, the one George had pointed to in the chair began to stir.

FRED'S POV

He stirred to the sound of conversation around him. A guy and a girl. George and Nikki. _Nikki!_ His eyes shot open just in time to see both of their mouths to meet in a passionate kiss. In that instant, his heart broke. He couldn't figure out what he felt at that moment. Was it jealousy, of a feeling of betrayal. Wait, no, maybe it was a little bit of both. At the same time, he couldn't really blame George, after all, it's not like he had any claim to her.

_But he knew that I liked her!_

_--Yes, but you asked Angelina to the ball!_

_But that was only because I couldn't ask her._

_--Doesn't matter, you asked Angelina, not Nikki, therefore she'd fair game._

_I don't care, George still should no better!_

_--Ugh! That's it! I can't sit here and argue with you anymore!_

His attention was drawn back to the "couple" before him. Just as quickly as it had begun, their kiss had ended. "George, I-" he heard Nikki say. He looked towards his brother and couldn't help but feel the warmth refill his body when he saw the look of disappointment spread across his face. Now that their moment had ended, he didn't want them to know he had seen it, so he decided to pretend as if he was just awakening. The only problem that he could barely hide his happiness at Georges misfortune. Thankful that his giddiness could be misconstrued as excitement over the fact that she had finally woken up, Fred exuberantly welcomed Phoenix back.

BACK TO NIKKI'S POINT OF VIEW

You hesitantly turned your attention back to Fred after allowing yourself one final searching glance at George. You could tell he was trying desperately to hide the hurt and rejection he felt...but he wasn't succeeding. You wish you could remember what your relationship with him- them- was...if you had any form of relationship, that is. _What is wrong with you?!_ you thought critically to yourself.

_--Of course there is some sort of relationship between you guys! They're sitting by your bedside, obviously worried about ya!_

_Yeah, but-_

Before you could finish your counter thought, you were brought back to reality by a red blur that practically knocked you off the bed. You couldn't help but scream out loud. "Oh, sorry," he began as he pulled you into bone-crushing hug. "I'm just so glad you're finally awake! How are you, are you ok?"

"I...c-can't...b-breathe..." you gasped.

"Oh...sorry, again." you couldn't help but laugh as he pulled away.

"I'm - uh - I'm going to go get Madame Pomfrey...now," George explained as he sulked away. You watched him as he walked the length of the hospital wing towards, what you assumed to be, an office. You couldn't help to feel that the way he was feeling was all your fault. Just then a hand was waved in your face.

"Hey, are you alright?" Fred asked softly.

You sighed softly, shaking your head. "Honestly? I don't know."


	4. Chapter 4

After about a minute, George returned with who, you could only assume, Madame Pomfrey, who gave you a goblet of…well, something… and said you were free to go. "Umm…ok…but go where?" you asked as you stood up.

The three people before you looked at you with confused expressions on their faces. The ageing nurse was the first to recover. "Why to your house, of course!" she stated matter-of-factly.

"Right," you breathed as you started walking to the door nodding your head repeatedly. Suddenly you stopped, realizing you didn't know how to get home from here- you didn't even know where here was! You pivoted slightly on your heels to face the trio.

"Umm…you wouldn't be able to tell me how to get home, would you?"

The twins, who had both heard you use George's name before without having to be reminded of it, thought this was some sort of joke, and so they were having trouble trying to contain their laughter. You shot them a look that, you thought, told them that this wasn't funny, but for some reason, this only made them laugh harder. Madame Pomfrey, obviously thinking the same thing, sighed exasperatingly. "Not your home, Dearie, your house. Your house! Gryffindor!"

"Gryffin-what?" you asked, confusion clearly written on your face. It continued on like this for about 20 minutes. The twins could no longer control themselves. Each time you claimed you had no idea what the poor, old nurse in front of you was talking about, they laughed harder. By the time Madame Pomfrey began to realize what was going on, they were practically on the floor they were laughing so hard. But realization did dawn on Madame Pomfrey's face, and as quickly as it had appeared there it was replaced by a look of horror.

"Phoenix, dear, Have a seat," she said as she led you back to the bed you had previously occupied. Once you were seated, she began again. "Do you have any idea where you are at the moment?"

Now it was your turn to be exasperated. "No! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" you exclaimed while throwing your hands into the air.

"Can you tell me today's date?"

You thought for a moment, but nothing seemed to come to mind. "I have no idea."

"Do you have any idea how you came to be here?"

"I got hurt?" you ventured.

"Yes, but how?"

You took a moment, and then just shrugged.

Madame Pomfrey slowly turned to the twins. "Will one of you please go get Professor Dumbledore?" And then, more to herself, "This may be a very long night."

The twin you believed to be George hurried off out of the Hospital Wing as Madame Pomfrey, herself, scurried around gathering various potions and books together in preparation for the man known to you only as 'Professor Dumbledore'. The remaining twin, with a more somber look on his face, seated himself back down in the chair he had occupied earlier. He stared at you for a few minutes, inquisitively, before he decided to give you an interrogation of his own.

"Do you remember who I am?" he asked.

"Umm… Fred?" you asked, simply.

He gave a slight nod. "So you do remember me!"

"Umm… no- should I?"

"But you remember George," he said, more than asked, a little disheartened.

"Not really," you said, a little cautiously. "The name 'George' just kind of popped out of my mouth, and he didn't bother to correct me, so I just kind of assumed…" you said all in one breath.

Just as Fred opened his moth to ask another question, the doors to the infirmary swung open, and in walked an old man, with a long silver beard, half-moon spectacles, and an exuberant pair of vibrant blue robes. Behind him was none other than George Weasley, following closely at his heals. "What is it, Poppy? Mr. Weasley tells me you have something urgent you need to discuss with me." His eyes quickly scanned the room and landed on you. "Ah. I see Miss Moniker has awakened." His eyes seemed to twinkle as he said this.

"That's not all, Professor. I fear she has amnesia."

As quickly as it had appeared, the twinkle vanished. "And? How serious is it?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"If it helps," Fred's voice seemed weak, and distant. "I was speaking to her before you came in, Professor, and she doesn't seem to remember George and me, and we've know her since first year."

Confused, George went to speak. "But, she-"

"She doesn't remember," said Fred with a glance towards his twin that said 'I'll explain later'.

With this, Dumbledore sighed audibly. "I'll alert Remus, he should know."

"Remus?! You know him? Oh, could you please tell him to come? I'd feel much better if he was here!" You jumped out of bed, practically screaming, happy you could finally remember even the smallest detail of a life you had no recollection of past your 11th Birthday.

You looked at the other's in the room and noticed that, apparently, you weren't the only one excited that you had remembered at least something. Dumbledore let out a small little chuckle and said, "I'll be sure to tell him." And with that he left, but not before telling the twins that they should get going, too. "Don't want to be late for class." He had said with a little wink

Once you were the only two souls left in the room, Madame Pomfrey attempted to jog your memory again by asking some more questions. When this effort proved futile, she stood up, saying, "You should probably get some rest, dear." She filled up a goblet with some fort of liquid medicine and proceeded to hand it to you. The split second before you raised your hand to grab it, she thought better of the concoction and started walking off wit it towards her office, all the while mumbling something about you probably doing better with dreams, anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Ok readers, fair bit of warning: this chapter is a short filler chapter, so if you're disappointed, I apologize. The next one will be better (or so I've been told, readers on the other site I have this published tell me it's one of their favourites). After the next two chapters, which I'll also add on to this site within the next few minutes, You guys will be caught up with my other readers. From then on both sites will be updated on the same day at approximateley the same time. I'll stop rambling now and get on with the story. Enjoy!

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MADAME POMFREY'S POV

Poppy was busy finishing tidying the hospital wing for the night as she thought about the events of her day. It had been a little over 24 hours since Phoenix Moniker had been brought in with major blood loss (due to a bloody nose, of all things), and, as she thought at the time, minor head trauma. She couldn't deny the fact that she was surprised when she realized Miss Moniker had amnesia. And now it was her job to find out just how severe of a case it is, and what, if anything, can help bring back her memory.

Besides this unfortunate development, she had only had one other patient the entire day, which was kind of surprising, considering this was the hospital wing of a school that taught a various range of spells and other magical knowledge that at times could, at times, range from boring to very dangerous. On average, Poppy would be brave enough to say she has at least 10 students each day. But no, today it was just phoenix and this one other girl. Sapphire, you think she said her name was.

She had come into the hospital wing earlier, accompanied by that girl in the Tri-wizard Tournament from Beauxbatons Academy. She had been suffering from a high fever at the she arrived, and possibly even a mild case of deliria because after she saw Phoenix Moniker, she kept trying to say she knew her from "back in the states". This seemed highly unlikely to Poppy, seeing as how the girl in front of her definitely had a French accent. Granted, her accent wasn't as thick as that Fleur Delacour's, but it was an accent, nonetheless. _I knew I should have closed the curtains!_, she thought as she gave this - _Sapphire_ - some pepper-up potion and a bit of sleeping draught, while at the same time dismissing Miss Delacour.

As she finished her final check on the girls before heading off to bed, she noticed two things. One, that Miss [she never actually caught her last name's fever had come down a considerable amount, which was good, because it meant that meant when she woke up in a few hours she'd be well enough to leave. The draught had to have worn off by now, so she was most likely sleeping off the remnants of her illness.

The second thing that Poppy noticed was that Miss Moniker was sleeping very restlessly. For a moment she contemplated waking her up, relieving her from what ever terror was disturbing her sleep. In the end, however, she thought better of it. _Perhaps_, she thought. _Whatever she's dreaming will do her memory some good_.

LUPIN'S POV

"Well? Can I see her?" asked Lupin, rather impatiently.

"In time, Remus." Dumbledore responded, a few degrees more calm than his companion. "But first, I think we should discuss the severity of this situation."

Lupin could do nothing but nod, and follow the old headmaster up the gargoyle-guarded staircase. When they entered Dumbledore's office, he obediently took the seat offered to him as Dumbledore sat opposite him. He watched as the old man steeple his fingers and surveyed him over them. Lupin supposed he was waiting for him to speak first, so he did. "You should have informed me as soon as she had arrived in the hospital wing," he stated, a bit harsher than he had intended.

"What good would that have done?" Dumbledore stated, not even acknowledging Lupin's harsh tone. "It's the full moon, and because of that you still wouldn't have been able to arrive here until today. She still would have been unconscious when you did arrive, and when she finally woke up she still would have had amnesia." He let this sink in for a moment before adding one final statement. "I know she's like a daughter to you Remus, but tell me what you honestly could have done yesterday for her that you can't do today- or even tomorrow, for that matter?"

Lupin nodded. "You're right, as always," he sighed in defeat. "Now can I see her?"

"It's getting late," Dumbledore replied. "Perhaps we should prepare to have you spend the night in the Shrieking Shack. After all, we have not had the proper amount of time to brew up a batch of Wolfsbane potion." And with that the old man stood up, and Lupin knew the conversation was over.

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** AN2: **I figure it's only fair, so I am going to make those of you who actually read this story an offer. It's the same one I presented around this chapter on my other site. So here goes. I'm offering you guys a chance to become/ create a character to add into my story. (This is my attempt to draw more interest to my story, figuring that you'd want to read it more if there was a chance a character you suggested might appear) If you are interested, I'd like you to pm me the following details:

**1:** Character Name

**2:** Blood Status

**3: **Character Traits (read: Personality)

**4:** Character Description

**5:** If your character could get with and HP or OC in my story, who would it be and why? (Multiple Characters are permissible)

**6:** Who would your character be friends with?

You may, if you feel like it, send in more than one character (if so than you can pair both your characters in question 5). If I receive submissions from both sites, I will choose one from each. Until the next one, Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: **Ok, so here's the deal. I know people are reading, but what I don't know is if you like what your reading. Because of this, from now on I'm not going to update until I have **at least** 5 reviews and/or private messages, or even one really good one [in other words, make me know you want it. Sorry to be mean, but I'm just trying to see if this story is worth continuing on this site, or if i should just give it up. So far I have only 1 review for 6 chapters, so it doesn't seem like you guy are interested. **Please let me know if you are, and I'll be glad to keep writing for you guys. **

And as a little incentive, **something really important happens in the next chapter and you'll only know it if I get those reviews!!!!!!**

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PREVIOUSLY ON 'SKELETONS IN A CLOSET'…

_"Dont worry, Nikki, this isn't good-bye. This...this is just some thing I have to do" she said as she took some money out of your brothers wallet._

_"Lemme come with you Phi(pronounced Phee) you can't leave me here all by myself!" You screamed through your tears._

_She let out a sigh of frustration. "For the last time, your not gonna be by yourself besides, b they /b like you better anyway." She spat that last part venomously. She picked up her bags and headed towards the door. When she got there she paused for a second, dropped her bags, ran back to the living room, and pulled you into one of her infamous bear hugs. "I promise, Ill come back and get you as soon as I find them. I'm gonna miss you soooo much! I love you Nikki."_

_"I love you, too, Phi!" _

* * *

For you, it seemed like it had been forever since Phi left, but in fact, it had only been three months. Things at home had escalated from bad to worse, and you had no idea how much longer you could take it. At the age of 9, you were already contemplating running away. _To go find Phi and our g-grandparents_, you thought to yourself. Once you found them, everything would be better. you thought the same thing after every beating Ricky gave you. You just never really had the courage to act upon your desires. _Phi would…Phi **did**_, you emphasized. But for you, it would always be _the next time_

You couldn't wait any longer. Tonight was the night. The perfect opportunity! Tonight, as was usual once a month, Ricky took a few thousand dollars out of the bank. You'd think that, after Phi left, he wouldn't do that anymore. But no, he had to have his drinking money. And, of course, he always had to find a way to take it out with out Janelle noticing. But she always did, so it was rather pointless.

_Tonight is the night, _you thought, as you lay in bed, dressed, waiting for everyone to fall asleep. Once they were asleep, you would sneak downstairs, take the money, take your bike (which you conveniently forgot to put away, in the locked garage, so it was currently leaning against the house) and ride about 10 blocks down to the airport. Once you got there, you would find a plane headed to London or Paris, hop on it, and hope to God that you weren't caught. You didn't have a ticket or passport, after all. You heard your brother go into his room and close the door. Knowing he was the last one in bed, you waited another twenty minutes before getting up and throwing on your shoes. _ It's go time_ you thought as you exited your room for the last time.

The scene faded, and another appeared.

_That was easier than I thought!_ You had just miraculously made it past customs after your plane landed at London's Heathrow Airport. And it was a really close call, too. There was one customs officer who tried to stop you when you tried getting through with out showing you landing pass and passport. He started chasing after you as you ran past him and you kept wishing, and hoping that something would make him stop. That something would make him forget… And he did. You don't know how, and you don't know why, but he did. He just stopped running all of a sudden, and turned around mumbling something about calling his wife. It was like magic, but you weren't going to stick around to find out what really happened. You went to a cash exchange inside the airport, changed all of Ricky's money into Pounds, while at the same time trying to avoid awkward questions like, "Where are your parents?" from the guy who was giving you your new currency. Once you had all of your money, you stashed it away into various safe places, and headed down to the underground station. Since you lived in New York City while you were in the States, you constantly rode the underground system on your own. You walked up to the ticket agent and told him you wanted a ticket to the first place that came to your mind. Since you were new to England and didn't know much about London, that first place just happened to be King's Cross Station. The ticket agent kindly told you that a line called the (what sounded like 'Pick-a-dilly' towards 'Cockfosters') would take you directly to King's Cross. He even told you how to get down to the proper platform. When you got there, you had to wait a few minutes for your train to come, got on, got a seat, ad were on your way. The scene faded away again.

When it rematerialized this time, you were running around King's Cross, trying to find your way out of the building. Unfortunately (or, maybe it was fortunate), you weren't paying too much attention to where you were going, because you wound up running directly into a raggedly dressed, kind looking, sandy haired man. "Sorry!" you immediately blurted out.

"It's perfectly alright," he replied as he helped you off the ground.

"Um…could you help point me in the direction out of this building, please?"

"Of course," he said, and then proceeded to give you the precise directions out.

"Thanks!" you exclaimed before scurrying off without waiting for a reply.

Five minutes later you were out side the building and walking down the street. Little did you know, you had no less than six people following you. Five of the six getting dangerously too close.

Again, the scene was replaced by a new one.

This time, you were surrounded by five scary looking men, tears streaming down your face from fear of what they might do to you. You slowly crawled into a tiny little ball, wishing with all your might that something would drive them off. _Like the customs officer_, you thought. The closer they got, the harder you wished. The tears turned into sobs as you buried your face, still wishing for another miracle. Unbeknownst to you, it did. Also unknown to you was the fact that this miracle was witnessed by none other than your sixth tailgater.

You jumped as a gentle hand touched your shoulder and a familiar voice said, "It's ok. You're alright now. Your safe." You looked up to see the face of the of the man you ran into no more than twenty minutes ago. For the second time that day, he was holding out his hand to help you up off the ground. You hesitated at first, but accepted his help anyway. Once your feet were firmly on the pavement, the man, who couldn't be more than 30-some-odd-years-old reached into his pocket and withdrew two things. "I believe this is yours," he said, handing back to you the wallet you hadn't even known you lost. "And here," he said, breaking off a chunk of the other item he had taken out and handing it to you. "Have a piece of chocolate. It'll make you feel better."

"Th-thank you," you stammered. You looked around at the five unconscious men surrounding you as you politely took a bite out of the piece of chocolate. "What did you do to them?" you asked curiously.

"Me? Oh no, I didn't do anything. It was all you." he replied simply.

"Me?" you questioned incredulously. "H-how?"

"A very powerful shield charm of some sort, I'd presume."

"A w-what?"

"Tell you what," he said. "Why don't we take you to your mummy and I'll explain it to her, too?"

"My mom is dead," you stated dismally.

"Well what about your father?"

You shook your head, tears threatening to escape your eyes one more time. "He's dead, too," you said in barely a whisper.

"What about anyone else? Is there someone else I could take you to?" He asked, even more kindly, if that were possible.

"I-I don't know," you said after a few minutes hesitation. You thought about it for a second, debating on how much to tell him. You decided the truth was best. "I came here looking for my grandparents."

"All by yourself?!" You nodded slowly. "Ok, can you at least tell me their names?"

"I only know mommy's name."

"Well, what's her name then?"

"C-Cass….Cass…I can't remember, sorry. Phi has the paper with mommy's name on it."

"And where's 'Phi'?" he asked, rather intrigued.

"I-I don't know…she left three months ago," you said, looking down at the ground in sadness, no longer being able to contain your tears.

"Tell you what," he said, trying too remedy the situation. "You can stay with me! I'll try to help you find you sister, and your grandparents, and I'll talk to an old friend of mine about getting you into a school for people like us."

"People like us?" you asked, clearly confused.

"Witches and wizards. You're a witch," he said, gesturing to the still unconscious men. "And I'm a wizard, " he said as he pulled a wooden stick out of his pocket, pointing it at a pile of trash, and muttering a few strange words. You watched as a trash can lid rose into the air completely on it's own.

"Wow," was all you could say.

"I'm Remus, by the way," he said.

"Phoenix," you responded.

"Phoenix. That's really pretty," he said, holding his hand out to you. You grasped it. "hold on ti-"

Somewhere, from outside this reality, you were being…slapped? You bolted up into a seated position and your eyes shot open to examine the sight in front of you. Your gaze was met by a pair of vibrant green eyes.


End file.
